


Ash and Dragon Fire

by VanillaHorizon



Series: Skyrim Shorts [10]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Dragons, F/M, Interracial By Fantasy Standards, Magic, One Shot, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23739940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanillaHorizon/pseuds/VanillaHorizon
Summary: A newcomer arrives at Jorrvaskr and Athis doesn't quite know what to think about this somewhat mysterious woman.Boots are thrown and bets are made.Rated teen and up for adult references.
Relationships: Athis/Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn
Series: Skyrim Shorts [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710664
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Ash and Dragon Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Oof. Written on iPhone notes, so reader beware of poor formatting and what have you. Truth be told, you're just lucky I dealt with a majority of the typos.

The first time Athis had ever inhaled the scent of dragon fire was when he had been coming back from Ivarstead, though at the time he did not know what the smell was yet.  
  
Somehow, someone had found a litter of wolf pups in their house with no idea how they came to be there and so they had called for the Companions help and he had taken the contract due to sheer boredom.  
  
Later, after finally returning to Whiterun, he heard that Helgen had been ransacked by a dragon, but still, he did not connect the scent he had encountered that day to a dragon's fiery breath.  
  
The second time he encountered the scent was a bit different.  
  
As he walked, he passed the Western watchtower.  
  
It had always looked like it had seen better days, but on this day he saw the tower looking it's very worst.  
  
Still smoldering ash laid about, and a dragon's corpse lay in the middle of the road nearby.  
  
The smell was familiar but foreign all the same.  
  
He later recalled the scent as the same one he had previously encountered.  
  
Thinking nothing more of it, he continued on his way.  
  
The third time he smelled the scent was when she first walked into the halls of Jorrvaskr.  
  
The scent was much stronger this time, so strong in fact that he got distracted enough by it that Njada had been able to land a strong punch right to his jaw, effectively sending him to the floor.  
  
He tasted blood but he didn't care at that moment, because he was intrigued by the newcomer.  
  
She was a golden-haired beauty with eyes the color of honey.  
  
He had no idea what an Altmer would be doing in Whiterun, much less in the company of Farkas.  
  
The two had walked in together shortly after Aela and Ria ventured through the door.  
  
"Just go downstairs and talk to him, he's not scary," Farkas joked.  
  
That was not something he was expecting.  
  
Farkas had just joked with the towering, golden-skinned beauty.  
  
With a smile, she swept away toward the living quarters with enough grace to likely rival Azura herself.  
  
"Who was the woman?" He found himself asking Farkas once he made his way outside after cleaning his busted lip.  
  
"She said her name was Hex." Was his simple answer.  
  
"Hex?" He repeated the name silently.  
  
He wondered who would name their child something like that, then he started to think that maybe she had given herself that name, either way, he was a bit intrigued, to say the least.  
  
To say that he was shocked beyond belief later that night would've been underselling it.  
  
With her hood down and hair pinned back he saw that she was sporting a small set of antlers.  
  
She caught him staring and immediately called him on it.  
  
"Yes, I have antlers, no I am not secretly just a very tall Bosmer, nor do I know why I have them and unless you are a child, no, you can not touch them."  
  
"I just didn't expect you to have antlers," he replied dumbly.  
  
"Few ever do."  
  
Vilkas turned his attention to her a second later.  
  
"So, Whelp, why is your name Hex?"  
  
She simply chuckled and raised an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know?" She teased.  
  
For some reason, Athis found the banter that followed quite distasteful, even though flirtatious remarks were something that came from himself quite often.  
  
"I think they're pretty little horns," Torvar commented.  
  
Hex visibly preened under the affectionate compliment.  
  
"Now you are a man with good tastes!" She quickly replied.  
  
Athis lowered his tankard slowly to the table because for some reason, his ale just didn't taste right anymore.  
  
Through the next few weeks he could tell when she was around or when she was walking down the steps toward bed for the night, simply by the scent that he still could not place.  
  
"What do you want?" He snapped as a shadow fell over him while he was relaxing in the training yard.  
  
"That's not a very polite greeting, Athis."  
  
His eyes snapped open as he heard her purr his name.  
  
Her arms were crossed and a mischievous smile was on her face as she looked down at him.  
  
"Come with me?" It wasn't exactly a demand, even though it sounded like one to him.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I could always use a trusted acquaintance at my back while I ransack a bandit encampment."  
  
He took a deep breath, ignoring the scent he found himself oddly drawn to and finally stood up.  
  
"When do we leave?"  
  
She smiled kindly and tilted her head slightly to the side before quickly replying.  
  
"As soon as you're prepared."  
  
***  
  
Their trek was silent except for the sound of nature around them and the crunch of stone beneath their feet for quite a while until Athis couldn't help himself anymore.  
  
"Why join the Companions?"  
  
She slowed her strides to a near stop before finally answering.  
  
"If you want the full story behind my reasoning then perhaps you should wait until I've had a few drinks." She began walking normally once again.  
  
He shook his head at the reply irritatedly.  
  
"No story, just an answer."  
  
"Fighting simply appears to be in my blood," she answered vaguely.  
  
Figuring out that he was probably not going to get a different answer from her, he silently followed behind her for the rest of their trip.  
  
***  
  
The two crouched down behind a stone as they neared the camp.  
  
"So, how do you prefer to do this?" She asked her Dunmer companion.  
  
"You're the one who asked me to come along, I'll follow your lead."  
  
She simply nodded her reply.  
  
Truly she hadn't expected that answer from him, but she could work with it.  
  
***  
  
She fired off three arrows, the first to distract, the second to down the orc by the gate and the third to kill whichever unlucky bandit happened to be on the receiving end, then she unsheathed her blades.  
  
Alongside Athis, the two of them easily cleared out the area of bandits, or so they originally thought.  
  
Athis noticed the archer just a second after Hex did but within that single second, an arrow was released and by some unknown divinities intervention, Athis was not harmed by it, but instead was forced to the ground by Hex who had charged at him full speed and knocked him to the ground.  
  
Directly where his head was sat a single arrow embedded into the wall behind them and the archer who had released it was a gurgling mess due to the ice spear embedded into his own throat.  
  
"You- you saved my life," he said.  
  
She could feel his heart racing just as fast as her own from where their chests were still touching.  
  
A mischievous smirk crossed her face immediately.  
  
"Well, I couldn't quite let a handsome Dunmer like yourself get finished off by a piss poor excuse for a bandit, now could I?"  
  
Only just then noticing the somewhat compromising position they had landed in, Athis withdrew his hand from her hip and started to sit up.  
  
"Maybe don't tell anyone that you had to safe my hide," he suggested.  
  
She hummed thoughtfully as she got back to her feet in one fluid motion.  
  
"Only if you help me with a little issue," she offered.  
  
"Not another bandit camp I hope."  
  
***  
  
"Athis, would you object to some new armor?"  
  
"Why?" He asked her suspiciously.  
  
His tone caused her to laugh a bit.  
  
"Because I offered." was her simple answer.  
  
He narrowed his crimson eyes at her.  
  
"This is so much worse than another bandit camp, and you're sitting here asking if I would like some new armor?"  
  
She shook her head a bit.  
  
"If you want my silence then you'll have to earn it, Handsome."  
  
"You're really calling me handsome when I just about got burned alive by a dragon?"  
  
She carefully looked him up and down before nodding.  
  
"Aside from the singed hair, you're still very handsome."  
  
"At least now I know why you always smell like you do," he admitted.  
  
Her eyes widened at this.  
  
"Do I smell bad?" She looked like a terrified child as she asked.  
  
"No, not bad, it's just that, you smell a bit like home and- and something else that I never could place until today, you smell like ash and dragon fire."  
  
Hex looked a bit confused, "I'll have you know that my soap is lavender and morning glory scented, granted the morning glories are all pressed ones, not fresh, but still, I should not smell like ash."  
  
"I never said it was a bad thing," he pointed out.  
  
She averted her gaze in an attempt to hide the blush she felt rising to her cheeks.  
  
"Oh." Was all she could think to say in reply.  
  
He shook his head, ignoring her small outburst.  
  
"Come on, it's getting late and if we hurry we can probably get back before midnight."  
  
"Or we could just head back in the morning, I mean I know where there's a decent cave nearby we could camp in until dawn."  
  
As if some sign from the gods, thunder sounded above them just as she finished speaking and rain started to fall a single moment after that.  
  
***  
  
They were both rather soaked by the time they made it to the cave but thankfully the cave was still free of unpleasant surprises since the last time Hex had cleared it out.  
  
"You're not extremely uncomfortable with magic, are you?" Hex was cautious to ask before casting anything.  
  
"As long as said magic isn't being thrown at me, I'm fine with it."  
  
She hummed thoughtfully then summoned forth two flame thralls.  
  
Athis looked up at her with wide eyes.  
  
"You can summon those, yet you had me help you not only clear a bandit camp, but kill a dragon too?"  
  
"To be fair, you're much better company," she admitted as she absently dug through the bag at her hip.  
  
After she pulled a dress out of her pouch she turned away and walked further into the cave.  
  
"I just summoned them for the heat since I figure that you're probably soaked to the bone and don't have any extra clothes with you."  
  
After she was a fair distance away she started to undo her armor.  
  
"I'm getting undressed by the way," she casually announced.  
  
He caught himself before he actually looked, but he did turn his head toward her direction once she said that on instinct.  
  
"By Azura, woman!"  
  
"What, never seen a naked woman before?" She asked playfully.  
  
Though he didn't see it, she shook her hips a bit as she teased him.  
  
He rolled his eyes at the Altmer's teasing question.  
  
"Of course I've seen a naked woman before, but I thought your people were prim and proper, not the type to be going around, stripping bare naked in the middle of random caves."  
  
She genuinely laughed at his reply.  
  
"Maybe it's the antlers!" She joked.  
  
Surprisingly enough, that got the Dunmer to crack a small smile  
  
"Maybe you do have a little Bosmer in you after all." He jokingly said before taking a drink from his waterskin.  
  
"I'd much rather have a little Dunmer in me," she replied quietly, causing him to choke on his water.  
  
Her eyes widened when she figured out that he had heard what she said.  
  
"Oh fuck, you heard that."  
  
Between harsh coughs, he managed to get out four words.  
  
"Of course I did!"  
  
***  
  
"Vilkas, do you know where Athis is?"  
  
The dark-haired man looked up from his seat on the steps to the woman and nodded.  
  
"Aye, he took a job last night and headed out first thing this morning."  
  
She hummed quietly in reply.  
  
"Anything else that needs to be done?" She asked.  
  
"Someone managed to let a sabercat into their house in Hjaalmarch, you up for it?"  
  
She gladly accepted and left less than an hour later.  
  
***  
  
"Hex was wondering about where you got off to this morning," Ria said once she noticed Athis had returned.  
  
"Why was she-" he trailed off once he saw the set of armor on the bed he claimed as his own.  
  
Ria had walked up behind him once he stopped talking.  
  
"Woah, is that dragon bone?" She asked.  
  
"I'd just like to know how she knew I preferred heavy armor."  
  
Ria laughed, "She's obviously been paying attention."  
  
He hummed in reply and went to admiring the armor.  
  
A short time later, Ria left Athis to his thoughts.  
  
When Athis finally tried on the armor, he found that it was not only a perfect fit but also seemed to be expertly enchanted.  
  
As he started to try on the boots, a note fell out that was written in an elegant, almost unreadable script.

> Athis,
> 
> I do very much hope that you will accept this set of armor as a token of my thanks for assisting me so thoroughly with the bandits and dragon. I apologize that I could not give you this gift in person but still yet hope you enjoy it.
> 
> ~ Hex

  
  
***  
  
Instead of taking another contract that day, he decided to wait until Hex returned from her job if only to properly thank her.  
  
By the time Hex actually returned, two full days had passed and the very first thing she did once she came back was fall into bed, quite literally.  
  
She fell face-first into her bed with a loud but muffled groan, catching Ria by surprise.  
  
Ria was about to ask if she was okay but the Altmer yanked off a necklace and let it clatter to the floor before she nudged a boot off as well.  
  
"Is that an amulet of Mara?"  
  
This news caught Athis by surprise, he was sure she was probably someone's wife already, especially with how attractive she was, not that he would openly admit to anyone that he found her so attractive.  
  
"Yes, I'm now an agent of Mara _and_ utterly exhausted."  
  
"You, an agent of Mara?" Athis couldn't help the surprised tone his voice took.  
  
Hex raised her head from where it was laying on her pillow and gave him a look that said 'I want to light you on fire' before growling, actually growling at him.  
  
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"  
  
Athis knew when he stepped in it, and he certainly stepped in it.  
  
"I just didn't see you being-" he trailed off, unsure how to continue without upsetting her and not sounding like a complete s'wit.  
  
The next thing he knew, she threw a boot at him and told him to go fuck himself.  
  
"Ouch, looks like you put your foot in your mouth," Torvar commented as Athis walked by him.  
  
"Like I didn't notice that myself!" he snapped before walking out with one single goal, go attempt to drown himself in alcohol.  
  
***  
  
"I hear that Ysolda has been looking for a man, maybe you should go show her a good time instead of sitting out here sulking," Torvar said as he flopped down in the seat across from Athis.  
  
"I'm not interested in that stick of a woman, if I want to bed one then I'm going to bed one that's shaped like a _real_ woman," Athis slurred in reply.  
  
"You mean one shaped like ole Hex?"  
  
"Of course, I mean she's gorgeous, even if she wasn't so tall, she'd still be beautiful."  
  
Vilkas overheard this as he stepped outside, "Sound's like you're smitten," he laughed.  
  
"You can't say that she's not the most gorgeous woman you've ever met," Athis said.  
  
"Depends who this mystery woman is that you're talking about."  
  
Torvar decided to speak up, "He's sweet on Hex!"  
  
"You mean our Hex?" Vilkas turned his attention fully to Torvar.  
  
"He went and upset her earlier and that's why he's out here drinking."  
  
Vilkas just shook his head at the two men and headed back inside, deciding that he wanted nothing to do with whatever mess Athis had gotten himself into.  
  
***  
  
The next time Hex ventured out on a job, she had taken Ria with her.  
  
"I mean he helped me kill the dragon, so obviously I made him a set of armor out of the bones, I mean it's not like I would've done anything else with them."  
  
Ria couldn't help but laugh at her shield-sister.  
  
Hex gave her a curious look before asking what she was laughing about.  
  
"You haven't stopped talking about him since we left."  
  
Hex's eyes widened when she realized that Ria was right and almost immediately she started to blush.  
  
"I'm so sorry, I didn't realize-" she started to apologize but Ria just began laughing again.  
  
"Hex, you don't realize anything!" Ria kept laughing.  
  
The Altmer didn't know how to take that comment so she just stood there with a dumbfounded look on her face.  
  
"Ever since you threw your boot at him he has been giving you the sad puppy eyes because he thinks you're still mad at him."  
  
"Why would he think that?" Hex asked.  
  
Before Ria could answer, Hex was speaking again.  
  
"Oh, by the eight, I'm such a fool, I never even apologized for doing that!"  
  
***  
  
"The giants are taken care of, here's the necklace, where's Athis?"  
  
"Well, good morning to you too," Aela laughed.  
  
Vilkas spoke up from where he was eating his breakfast, "He went with Farkas and Torvar, I think they said something about bears, I'm not sure though because I was still half asleep."  
  
"Do you know where?" Hex asked him.  
  
"I think I heard Vignar tell them to watch out for Forsworn, so maybe they were heading toward Markarth," Aela told her.  
  
Hex nodded her reply and walked out the door a few moments later after grabbing something from the whelp's quarters.  
  
"Fifty gold says the two of them end up getting married next week," Vilkas bet Aela.  
  
Aela shook her head, "One hundred says they're engaged by the time they get back and married before the week's up."  
  
"Deal."  
  
***  
  
Clairvoyance had never been as useful as it was that day for Hex as she rode her conjured horse toward Markarth as fast as she could.  
  
When she finally found the group of men, she stopped short and waved Arvak away because beyond finding them, she hadn't thought that far ahead.  
  
"Boys, do you mind if I borrow Athis for a moment?" She asked as soon as she walked up to them.  
  
"Go on, I'll catch up," Athis waved them away.  
  
The two elves stood there a bit awkwardly for a bit until Athis finally broke the silence.  
  
"I never actually thanked you for the armor, so thank you."  
  
"That's not why I wished to speak with you, I needed to apologize and make sure you know that I'm not mad at you."  
  
Athis narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything more.  
  
"And I wanted to-" she trailed off and decided to just be forward with what she wanted.  
  
She pulled the amulet of Mara out of the pouch at her hip and awkwardly held it out to him.  
  
He looked from the amulet to her face, where he saw a blush faintly coloring her cheeks.  
  
He turned her face back toward his own, forcing her to look into his eyes.  
  
"Then it's settled, you and me."  
  
"I think I would quite enjoy that."  
  
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.  
  
Athis rested his hands on her hips and kept them there even after she ended their kiss.  
  
"I could get used to that."  
  
"Good, because there are going to be a lot more of those in your future," she told him playfully.  
  
"Wouldn't have it any other way." 

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here I am posting another older one-shot instead of actually working on any of my ongoing fanfics that I really want to finish. OH WELL. Hope you enjoyed reading this bit of whatever you want to call this.


End file.
